Just realized I haven't posted since Monday. Oops!.
Tuesday, we went out driving in town and on the highways in the morning, then practiced on the range in the afternoon. After being at school for fourteen hours on Monday, leaving a little after 5 on Tuesday was delightful.
Wednesday, most of the seniors went out driving in the morning, but three of us were left behind. One was a student who would not be testing this week because that student needed more time. The other one and I were confused about why we were left on the range. We assumed we'd be going out driving in the afternoon instead. Nope. We practiced parking and pre-trip inspections all day. The other seniors joined us in the afternoon.
Thursday, we started testing. I was given the very last testing spot in the afternoon because the head instructor thought I might want to go out driving in the morning, since I hadn't the day before. I told him that I was ready to go and if anyone wanted to switch me timeslots, I was more than willing. Waiting all day was giving me the worst nerves and stomach cramps.
In hindsight, I should have gone out driving in the morning. It's not that I thought I didn't need the practice, I was simply hoping someone would switch me timeslots. A lot of the guys wanted more time to work on their pre-trip inspections (they hadn't started practicing them until this week!). I did end up switching with someone and getting the first timeslot after lunch.
I was so determined to get all 71 points on my pre-trip inspection. I studied the hell out of that thing. I got every single point of each part that I mentioned.... but I was so nervous that I skipped the coupling system entirely. Oops! So I missed those six points. 65 out of 71 was more than enough to pass.... but I am still kicking myself about it!
Parking was terrible. I could not get the angle right on the parallel parking and I used every pull-up I could. You get four free pull-ups (pulling forward to readjust the truck) for all of the parking maneuvers. After four, you get docked a point for each one you get. You also lose points for touching or knocking over cones (I think 2 and 3 points, respectively). I did finally get the truck into the box for the parallel, but it wasn't pretty. I really should have gone out driving in the morning. It might have helped my nerves.
The driving could have gone better. My instructors had been telling me that I leave too much space when I make right turns. On the one hand, you want to swing out enough that your trailer doesn't hit the curb (hitting a curb is an automatic fail on the test).... but you don't want to "open a door" (leave enough space) for a car to sneak in between you and the curb. Ideally, you want to keep your trailer close to the curb to "close the door" for any car wanting to sneak past. I had been working all week on "closing the door". I did not hit any of the curbs and I very deliberately left less than a foot of space between my trailer wheels and the curb.
I missed four points (there are four right turns on the test route) for being too close to the curb.
The rest of the points I missed had to do with not watching my mirrors often enough (continuing to check my right mirror as I was merging instead of only glancing once or twice) and for once hitting the brakes kind of hard. I was downshifting for a red light and was watching my tachometer (RPM) and had already taken the truck out of seventh gear and was going a little to fast to hit sixth, so I hit the brakes, and revved up to 1500 RPM and caught sixth gear.
It was an either/or situation. I was either going to fail the test (automatic fail if you coast for more than the length of the truck without finding/being in gear or stopping) or brake hard to get my speed down to catch sixth.
I also didn't get the truck slowed enough in the final turn into the school's driveway. I was supposed to be down to fifth gear for the turn and I only got it down to sixth. I had been criticized earlier in the test for starting my downshifting/slowing way too soon for my turns.... and this time I clearly waited too long.
I was so nervous! He doesn't tell you your points or whether you passed until after you park the truck back on the range at the school. I passed, but I was so nervous. If you do really horribly on the test (so much so that the tester fails you or feels unsafe with you driving), he makes you sit in the passenger seat and he drives the truck back to the school.
He was really gruff and condescending during the test (it's not his job to be nice... I get that), but he was really pleasant on the way in. One of his daughters went to the same university I did. When we got to his office, he asked me for my license and permit. I reminded him that I'd given them to him at the beginning of the test (and assumed they were on his clipboard). He had left them in the copier! He laughed and said that if we'd been pulled over, not having my license and permit would have been his fault.
I decided right then and there that I could not accept an orientation
slot at the company where they put you into your own truck (alone) after
orientation... no trainer. I clearly need a few weeks with a trainer
in the truck. I have pre-hires from every company I applied to (nothing on my driving or criminal record... spent too much time being a good girl and working to pay for college)... so now I'm spoiled for choice about where I want to go. I've narrowed it down to two companies and I have a week to decide.
We were told to "saunter in around 9am" Friday morning. We had a few additional (not on the state test) parking maneuvers to learn. Mostly, it was the 90 degree ally docking and how to offset while going forward (if you have space, offsetting while going forward and then backing straight up is so much easier!)
Then we got our diplomas after lunch. The first week (classroom) instructor asked me to talk to his class and give any advice. I told them to make the most of their time on the range and get as much time in the driver's seat as possible. It's really unstructured out there and you could easily sit at the break table most of the day and smoke... and no one is going to to remind you to actually practice your driving or pre-trip. You're a grown-up and it's up to you to make the most of your time. I also told them that if you break down the cost of the school per day, you're paying $400 per day to go there.
Don't waste your money. Don't waste your time. Get the job done.
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